Application for Steemit Challenge Season 25: Learning Photography and Photo Editing Skills using Lightroom

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Have you ever wondered how people take exclusive photographs regardless of device type? That's the hack in learning photography, as you'll be exposed to certain files and features you've never imagined to be seen on your phone. Photography has been overlooked as being a menial skill. After all, everyone snaps, and it's not a big deal to learn how to snap with my mobile phone.

It's not about taking pictures but how, what angle, what pitch, what lighting and what composition do you use? How is your hand positioned? Because you can't tell someone you're a content creator, and yet, you don't even know how to position your phone for video creation. All these things are learnt.

The presence of mobile phones with exceptional cameras is gradually colonising static cameras, which has made it possible for those that can't afford a static camera to use what's available to give exceptional photo presence. Learning how to edit pictures exceptionally prevents outrageous expenses and creates room for the young to learn a digital skill in photography.

I'm going solo because I've been on this line for years, though a partnership would have been great, but there are things I need to reveal when it comes to using Adobe Lightroom. Just as someone introduced how to use ChatGPT in creating cartoon characters and comic books without having to spend excessively to get one character draughted using 3D and the likes, I'm introducing the use of the Lightroom app in photo editing other than Photoshop. Who am I to teach, and what qualifications do I have?

Brief detail of the Professor

I'm the professor in question, @bossj23, and I've stated my reasons for going solo without partnership. I'm a Nigerian and joined the Steemit platform in 2021. I've had 3 years of working experience on the platform as a content writer who's passionate about originality and exclusiveness. I've not hosted an engagement challenge before but kept applying, particularly in the line of photography and edits. Why? I feel it's something people need to know: content writers who integrate pictures to make their content have meaning.

I'm a moderator in the Steem4Nigeria and SteemKids and Parents communities, and I've had lots of achievements being on this platform. With the level of trust given me in this role, I perform my duties diligently and also train newbies to become the best of themselves on the platform while striving to have a successful Steemit journey.

I've also been a keen partaker of learning challenges hosted by different users, which has greatly helped improve my skills and has given me added knowledge to what I already had. There were things I was novice about but learnt them through Steemit learning challenges.

As for working experience, I'm a student, and I've taken up this digital skill for two years now. I've been editing pictures of clients either for wedding purposes, birthdays and the like without making it so obvious an edit was done. Editing goes far beyond removing backgrounds. You focus on the image in the background and try as much as possible to enhance one's look with your mobile, which would still give a better photographic presence in the absence of Photoshop models for editing on laptops.

These are my work. We usually focus on before and after projects. That's the essence of editing. You help improve the appearance of the image you're working with.

My idea

It's not outrightly an idea but my own personal contribution to the challenge series. I'll be teaching the use of the Adobe Lightroom app for photo editing, which is quite complex, as making a design on Canva. One may think it'd be just to adjust lines, and you have your edits. It's far from that. You'll need to master certain principles, including colour theory as done in graphic design, to be able to use this app effectively.

Since it's a learning challenge, students get to learn from me; they challenge themselves by editing a picture that would be dropped here for every lesson. Students would have to apply what they've learnt for the 6 weeks in the images that would be given for use. This would not just give them prior knowledge on its usage but would also foster creativity and reasoning.

Just as a graphic designer thinks of ways to make a graphic exceptional, we as editors use the tools we have to make our pictures exceptional. The initial stage would be easygoing, then we'll go to the complex aspect of editing using Lightroom. You may think you can just easily learn the course on YouTube. I bet you won't be so good because this particular app needs proper guidance and not just learning from video clips.

What I'll be teaching for the 6 weeks

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An introduction to concepts when learning how to use a particular application is very essential. You must know what you're working with, the tools and your environment before hitting up.

Week 1: Introduction to Photography and Importance of Photography on Steemit:

Now, this lesson was selected to drive interest among learners. They should know why photography is important on Steemit, as they are content creators on the platform. If you don't know the importance of what you're doing, it's absolutely a no because you won't be intentional about it. So this lesson will touch on aspects like

• Why should you be intentional about taking photos on Steemit?

• Reasons for taking photos with your mobile device and why this adds to your being creative

• Challenges faced when taking photos with your mobile device, etc.

These are interest-driven questions that would help all content creators on Steemit know the reason they take pictures for their content and why they should be intentional when taking these pictures and not just doing it reluctantly because of the reward.

After placing emphasis on this for week 1, we'll go into a major lesson which has to do with photography proper.

Week 2: Understanding Your Mobile Camera and Positioning.

• How to set your mobile camera in a way that produces quality images in low and bright light.

• How to capture moving objects without the pictures appearing blurry

• How to set focus on stationary objects, etc.

For positioning

• Capture a motion picture of a human and a picture of a moving object, still maintaining focus and clarity.

• Capture pictures of nature and distant objects without making them look blurry or distant.

• snap a picture based on a particular creativity or subject in question. E.g There's a topic on charity or poverty alleviation. Capture a creative and original photo to show this.

Week 3: Introduction to Adobe Lightroom

• Importing photos and organisation

• Understanding raw and JPEG files

• Getting acquainted with its features

• Job opportunities in monetising one's editing skills

• Lightroom and Canva

Week 4: Basics of Editing

• Presets usage

• Manual editing and auto tone

• Resetting and Cropping

• Using HSL and Light Panels

• Saving photos

Week 5: Color theory in Lightroom

• Understand the colour histogram.

• White balance and BW

• Color grading

• Color panels

• Project

Week 6: Projects and application of all that's learnt

• Removing spots

• Background space

• Focused edits

• Lens correction and gradients

• Branding your photo sessions for physical job opportunities

These are the topics that would be handled for 6 weeks. As much as Adobe Lightroom is broad, we'll be learning the basics and a bit more of the advanced. Once the basics are learnt, the advance would be easy to understand. To most, the basics may seem like advanced knowledge. Everything said would be taken into special consideration if selected.

I receive jobs on a weekly basis and charge for editing and photographing. You too can learn to use Lightroom for mobile edits as one of the recommended editing apps. Do you think it's wise to learn camera positioning and also get to know some hack files for photography? You'll definitely be shocked your phone can do what a highly placed phone can.